Hawk on Roxton

Hawk with Prey

Red-tailed hawk numbers have increased in Toronto over the past two decades. Some say that what draws them into urban areas is the fact that they gravitate toward open spaces like airports to catch prey in open grassy areas where the infrastructure offers conveniently high perching stations.

On Saturday morning, at the North East corner of Roxton and Bloor, Ronald, a.k.a. Johnson, a.k.a Pants, a.k.a. Ronny spotted a hawk on the roof of Coffee Time while having his morning fix at Saving Gigi.

"Holy shit, that is a hawk," Ronald exclaimed to the company on the café patio who consisted of Blossington Post writer, DmD, and Newfauch.

The threesome starred in honoured silence as the hawk stood stoic and still, posture like a Spartan leader overlooking his Blossington kingdom. Some time passed when suddenly the predator leapt from its rooftop perch before swooping down and catching an expendable pigeon in mid-flight.

From the patio parameters several holy-shits escaped the mouths of all three excited witnesses.

Victorious with its soon-to-be-food clutched firmly in its talons, the hawk quickly disappeared within the trees that line the asphalt on the residential street, Roxton.

Several passerbys asked what all the excitement was about. And one lady lamented that her son was not around to have witnessed the glory.

"He loves hawks," she said. "He would have loved to see a hawk in our neighbourhood. Wow, can you believe it?"

To answer your question lady, "Yes, it is totally believable. Anything is possible in Bloorcourt."

Hopefully, this hawk decides to keep permanent residence in our hood. There are numerous benefits. First of all, the lady’s son may get to see it; thus like make a wish foundation, a Blossington boy’s dream will come to fruition. Plus, the hawk can act as a caretaker, decreasing plops of poo on people’s heads vis-a-vis annihilation of pigeons. But also, finding a mascot and team name for our hypothetical, bad ass sports team would be easy: The Blossington Hawks. Pretty original, eh?

Photo by Glenn Nevill